Gender, Conflicts Prevention And Human Security Workshop Underway

The Hon. Minister for women and children affairs has opened a two-day workshop on gender, conflict prevention and human security on the16th of November 2009 in Accra.

The workshop organized by the Women Peace and security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) a women-led pan African non-governmental organization, which seeks to promote women's strategic participation and leadership in peace and security governance in Africa and the France based International Organization of French speaking countries (OIF) was aimed at training women to enable them rightfully play their roles in conflict prevention and management.

In a speech read on her behalf, by Mr. Atta kuma the human resource director at the ministry of women and children affairs, the hon. Akua Dansowaa stated that “the effects of armed conflicts are much more devastating on women, children and other equally vulnerable groups, however these women who are worst affected in major conflicts contribute the least to the emergence and sustenance of such conflicts moreover, they are not given the chance in the resolution and prevention of these conflicts ignoring the fact that women due to their reproductive roles are more humane, caring and understand the suffering of human than men.

Thus she said the essence of the workshop, bearing in mind its objectives, was a very laudable effort of the organizers since it seeks to enhance the integration of women into the National Policy Framework for conflict prevention and human security in Ghana.

She further stated that, “conflicts and the associated human insecurity are symptomatic of societies where there is real or perceived injustice, bad governance, scarcity of resources, poverty, unemployment and similar preposterous challenges among others. She added that, in parts of Ghana and other locations in the West African sub-region conflicts appear to lend credence to this assertion therefore, strategies for conflict prevention and resolution cannot be comprehensively de-linked from these underlying factors. She stressed on the critical examination of any deliberations about the panacea to conflicts since it would be incomplete if that is not done.

Concluding, the Minister enunciated that Ghana unlike some other neighboring West African countries due to providence have not experienced any form of protracted wars and conflicts in the years past nevertheless, reports of conflicts may be viewed as normal part of everyday occurrence in some communities of Ghana. She however urged that Ghanaians should be of the conviction that such calamities become things of the past in order to speed up development.